The 160cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine on Honda Stylo 160 unveiled makes 16 bhp peak power and 15 Nm peak torque
India is one of the largest 2W markets in the world. This vast market is primarily dominated by commuter scooters and motorcycles. There is enough room for premium and sporty offerings and almost every manufacturer tries their hand in this direction. Honda Stylo 160 scooter was unveiled today. Does this make sense for India? Let’s take a look.
Honda Stylo 160 Scooter Unveiled
If we look at Honda’s premium 160cc scooters, there is Honda ADV 160, Click 160 and the newly unveiled Stylo 160. The newest Stylo 160 is a neo-retro offering and looks like a scooter of the yesteryear. It is a stylish one and is likely to attract a lot of modern and young consumers looking for a retro-themed scooter.
The retro appeal is perfectly complemented by many modern amenities. We’re talking about LED headlights, LED DRLs, LED tail lights, a keyless start feature, an option between a Combi Braking System (CBS) and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), alloy wheels, colour-matched ORVMs, colour-coded floorboard and sea covers, among others.
Speaking of colours, Honda Stylo 160 gets Glam Beige, Royal Matte Black, Glam Red and Royal Green. The Royal colour options are likely to be the top-spec more expensive ones as they get option of ABS and they get brown floorboard and seat cover that does add visual drama.
Where powertrains are concerned, Honda Stylo 160 is powered by a single cylinder liquid cooled engine that generates around 16 bhp of peak power and 15 Nm of peak torque. This is around the same ballpark as Hero Xoom 160 and Yamaha Aerox 155. Being a Honda, we can expect a refined package as well.
Where componentry is concerned, we can see alloy wheels that are likely to be 12-inches, wide tyres, front disc brakes, RSU telescopic front forks and more. There will be a sizeable under-seat storage too. Only Royal variants get painted silver grab rail and silver front forks.
Does this make sense for India?
In Indian scooter market, Honda is the undisputed king with almost no rivals in the immediate vicinity. Most of Honda’s scooter muscle gain is from Activa lineup, which is a commuter offering. HMSI has never ventured into premium high-capacity scooter offerings for Indian market and has stuck to commuters.
But why not? Yamaha is currently selling Aerox 155 sporty scooter in India. Hero MotoCorp is keen on launching its newly developed Xoom 160 ADV-styled maxi scooter in India. So, there seems to be a niche for premium scooters and Honda being India’s largest scooter maker, might consider this in the future.
